DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Rev. Jay Fostner, accused of mishandling reports of sexual assault on the St. Norbert College campus, has been selected to serve on the college’s board of trustees beginning this fall.
An email from St. Norbert President Brian Bruess that was forwarded to FOX 11 lists Fostner as one of four new trustees elected to the board. The email states, “Fostner was elected to serve on the board by the Norbertines at their June Chapter meeting.”
The letter says the board of trustees’ “role is to govern the college and ensure the fiduciary responsibilities are met, is a diverse group of generous alumni, beloved friends of the college, and Norbertine fathers.”
In January 2020, it was announced Fostner’s position of Vice President for Mission and Student Affairs at the college was eliminated amid organizational changes. He held the position for nine years.
In May 2019, it was announced Fostner would be taking a one-year sabbatical from St. Norbert.
It came five months after Bruess announced an independent investigator found the school had solid policies for addressing sexual assault reports and no faculty or staff needed to be fired. However, Mindy Rowland, the Madison lawyer who conducted the investigation, later stated the school came to its own conclusions from her findings.
The investigation was launched after hundreds of students and alumni signed a letter to Bruess asking for a transparent investigation of Fostner. The letter stated among the stories of survivors being shared regarding Fostner, “there is a consistent pattern of covering up sexual misconduct, disregard for the Title IX process, and placing survivors under duress with the goal of silencing them.”
There was also a separate investigation that looked into misconduct allegations against Fostner from the 1980s. According to a September 2018 letter sent to students, national third-party investigator, Praesidium, determined those accusations against Fostner were false and without merit.
During Fostner’s sabbatical, in November 2019, St. Norbert faculty took a vote of no confidence “for Rev. Jay Fostner continuing in any position at St. Norbert College.” The vote came as staff worked to keep Bruess at the school, after he had announced he would be leaving at the end of the year. Bruess ended up staying in the position.
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